The Calgary Flames have been there — rewind the game tape to the beginning of the 2016-17 season. The whole month of October was a disaster.

And, despite the fact they’ve won four straight and are finally playing the type of hockey Glen Gulutzan wants them to play, they aren’t where they want to be yet.

In other words, they can’t take Thursday’s game against the Coyotes lightly.

“We’ve had our own struggles here,” said the Calgary Flames coach whose club dispatched the Dallas Stars 2-1 on Tuesday night. “We don’t have any real footing where we can just come in here and play the Arizona Coyotes. We need to look after ourselves. We’re not out of the woods yet. We’re sitting in a good spot but we’ve got games in hand. Thing is, every game we have to win. We’ve just got our footing under us.

“This is a game we have to approach real hard.”

You don’t have to tell Lance Bouma that.

The bash-and-crash left winger will return to the lineup after missing 16 games with a shoulder injury he suffered on Nov. 5 at Los Angeles.

“Definitely nice to be back out there and get a chance to play,” said Bouma. “It’s been a long time. I’m looking forward getting out there. Conditioning hasn’t been a problem because I’ve been able to skate for such a long time. It’s just getting strength back in my shoulder. Now it feels good. I’m looking forward to getting back.”

Kris Versteeg, however, will be out. His hip is bugging him again after absorbing a hit from Antoine Roussel in Tuesday’s game. That opens the door for Micheal Ferland to move up to the top line and fill Versteeg’s spot on left wing with Sean Monahan and Troy Brouwer. Bouma will fit in on Ferland’s place on the fourth line.

Additionally, the Flames also summoned Tyler Wotherspoon from the Stockton Heat and dispatched Brett Kulak down to the minors. Kulak had been a healthy scratch in the last five games so it was important to get him playing again.

Wotherspoon and Freddie Hamilton are likely the extras versus the Coyotes.

The Flames are 14-13-2 and 8-6-2 on the road.

“Phoenix plays such a structured game,” Gulutzan said. “The last time we played them, we talked about being comfortable with a low-scoring game. You’re not going to get a lot of chances usually. I know they’ve given up a lot of shots than they normally do. But they play a really structured, sound game … every game for us is going to be important. Whether it’s here or back at home on Saturday, everyone has to be our best.”

The 18-year-old’s name is well-known in the area. His father Keith played parts of five seasons with the Coyotes after they re-located to Phoenix from Winnipeg ahead of the 1996-97 season. Matthew, of course, came along shortly after that — born in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Dec. 11, 1997. But the teenager is carving his own National Hockey League path. On the Flames’ second line with Mikael Backlund and Michael Frolik, Tkachuk has been the catalyst to more than a few dust-ups. And he has the skill to back it up. With six goals and six assists in 24 games and no markers in five, he is due for a snipe.

Who To Watch — Coyotes

RW Shane Doan

The 40-year-old Coyotes captain is one goal away from 400 in his career. But point-less and goal-less in the last two games during this tough stretch has got to have left a bad taste in his mouth. Doan also has 553 NHL assists and needs one to move past Thomas Steen for a new franchise record. With 952 career points in 1,491 games, the future hall-of-famer is still one of the best in the game. They need him to step up now more than ever.

Really this is a toss up between Mike Smith and Chad Johnson. Both have been playing great.

Power Play — Flames

Their man advantage has struck in three straight games.

Penalty Kill — Flames

Their PK unit has only allowed one goal in the last five games.

Intangibles — Coyotes

They’re struggling in every area, but the losing skid has to end at some point.

Overall — Flames

One of the hottest teams in the NHL right now.

Set-up Notes

Coyotes G Mike Smith allowed four goals on 27 shots as Arizona dropped a 4-0 decision to the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday … It was Arizona’s fifth straight loss … Tuesday’s clans was also Smith’s first game since making a franchise-record 58-saves on Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets in a 3-2 shootout loss … Following the game against the Jackets, Arizona’s third straight loss, he had some choice words to say. “At some point you’d like to see your team move forward and take steps in the right direction to start having your chance to win hockey games,” Smith said. “It seems like once we take a step forward, we’re taking a couple back.” … The last time a netminder had 58 saves or more was then-Oilers goalie Ben Scrivens who had 59 on Jan. 29, 2014 … Calgary and Arizona square off three times this month: Thursday, on Dec. 19 at Arizona, and again on New Year’s Eve at the Scotiabank Saddledome … The Coyotes return to Calgary on Feb. 13 for the fifth and final meeting of the season … The last time these teams met was on Nov. 16, a 2-1 overtime win for the Flames … RW Michael Frolik scored the game-winner 49 seconds into overtime.

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